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Shuttleworth remixes Ubuntu... for biz users

No offense to RHEL, m'kay?

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Inspired by the tweaks of Ubuntu-using IT departments, Canonical has released a Business Desktop Remix of Ubuntu.

Re-chopping Ubuntu according to the most common changes that business users make to their installs, Canonical product leader Mark Shuttleworth hopes that the new desktop-friendly boot will make it easier for businesses to work out how they can use the operating system. "Booting straight into a business-oriented image makes it easier for institutional users to evaluate Ubuntu Desktop for their specific needs", he said in a blog introducing the remix.

The remix strips out media player, games and social media elements while adding in certain components useful for business workflow including the Adobe Flash Plugin, VMware View, and the OpenJDK 6 Java run-time environment. But don't worry, the remix will be compatible with all Ubuntu-friendly hardware and software and it meets all Ubuntu's standards on remixes:

Before anyone gets all worked up and conspiratorial: everything in the remix is available from the standard Software Centre.

But a EULA is required for the download:

Some applications like VMWare View are included in this release under a proprietary license so download is covered by an EULA, and this image can’t be mirrored unless you make prior arrangements with the relevant ISVs. Boring, but better to do it once than for every individual app.

Shuttleworth emphasises that Canonical's move into the desktop enterprise space isn't a dig at Red Hat's enterprise version of Linux (RHEL) which has never really taken off. They're just making Ubuntu a bit more convenient for its enterprise users.

The project has been under construction since the Ubuntu Developer Summit in October. ®